By FRANCIS XAVIER
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Rhinos are to kick off their Premier League 2019 challenge at their home den – the Likas Stadium. In the updated Premier League 2019 fixtures released by Malaysian Football League (MFL) yesterday, they are scheduled to take on Johor Darul Ta’zim II on February 2. Their second match of the season will be away to Kelantan on February 8, followed by a home tie against Terengganu FC II on February.
Their fourth and final match for the month of February is a Borneo Derby clash against Sarawak away on February 23. After returning from their neighbouring State, Sabah Rhinos will face off with Royal Malaysia Police or PDRM as it is fondly known, which stands for Polis Diraja Malaysia, at the Likas Stadium on March 2, followed by an away date with Negeri Sembilan on March 9. After the Negeri Sembilan clash, the Premier League is taking an 18-day break and would only resume on the final week of the month where Sabah Rhinos will be home to Penang.
However, only a tentative date has been fixed which is between March 29-31. The dates for the rest of the fixtures have (also) yet to be fixed with mere tentative dates stated in the fixtures. After the Penang clash, Sabah Rhinos will be away to Premier League new boys Selangor United FC (April 5-7), before taking on UiTM FC at home (April 12-14). This will be followed by a home fixture against UKM FC (April 19-21), before they conclude their first round challenge up against Perlis away (April 26-28).
Sabah Rhinos will open their second-round challenge taking on Selangor United FC away (May 2-5). After the second round opener, like the rest of the teams, Sabah Rhinos will play their next three Premier League fixtures during the Ramadhan fasting period after FML decided to continue with the league during the holy month. They will be home to Perlis (May 12-15), before playing two consecutive away fixtures against UKM (May 17-18), and Penang (May 24-25).
After the Penang date, the Premier League is taking another break and would only resume in the middle of June where Sabah Rhinos are scheduled to take on Negeri Sembilan in a home tie (June 14-16), followed by an away date with PDRM (June 18-19). They then face Sarawak in the second Borneo Derby encounter, but this time it will be played at the Likas Stadium (June 25-26). After the Sarawak clash, Sabah Rhinos will play two consecutive away fixtures to JDT II (July 5-7) and UiTM FC (July 9-10).
Upon their return, they would entertain Kelantan at the Likas Stadium (July 12-14), before they conclude their Premier League 2019 challenge away to Terengganu FC II (July 19-21). The 12 participating teams in the Premier League are PDRM, UiTM FC, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak, Penang, Terengganu FC II, Selangor United, Kelantan, Sabah, Johor Darul Ta’zim II, UKM FC and Perlis. For the record, last year, Sabah Rhinos finished sixth among the 11 participating teams.
